HARTFORD, Conn. _ The 52 students arrested during a climate change protest that disrupted the Harvard-Yale football game last month will have their cases dismissed if they complete five hours of community service.
The students _ nearly all from Harvard and Yale _ appeared in a crowded Superior Court in New Haven Friday morning and held a demonstration on the courthouse steps afterward.
"The whole protest was based on the idea that we are in a climate crisis," said Caleb Schwartz, 22, from Tarrytown, N.Y., and a senior at Harvard. "We chose the game to make a high-profile statement."
The students can perform the community service wherever they live.
"These are great kids, idealistic, everything you want in a son or daughter," said Hugh Keefe, a lawyer for the students, who spoke outside the courthouse. "They have purpose. They are trying to help the world avoid a catastrophe. They sense to some degree it's too late but they want to do something dramatic to save the planet. It takes courage to do what they did."
Dozens of protesters streamed onto the football field during halftime of the Harvard-Yale game on Nov. 23, demanding that the schools divest from investments in the fossil fuel industry.
In a statement after the game, the Ivy League said that the protest disrupted "an annual tradition."
"It is regrettable that the orchestrated protest came during a time when fellow students were participating in a collegiate career-defining contest and an annual tradition when thousands gather from around the world to enjoy and celebrate the storied traditions of both football programs and universities," the statement said.
Outside the court on Friday morning, Rebecca Cleveland Stout, a Harvard senior from Oregon, said the universities were continuing an "unjust system" by investing in fossil fuels.
